A worker peers into a large hole, the site of a major water-main break at West 29th Avenue and Zuni Street in Denver on Friday. The water main broke Thursday evening, causing major street flooding and damaging a few businesses nearby.

About 5 million gallons of water spilled during a water-main break that flooded Lower Highland, damaged businesses and closed two lanes of southbound Interstate 25 Thursday night.

Denver Water crews worked on the damaged 24-inch pipe at West 29th Avenue and Zuni Street through Thursday night and all-day Friday to repair the damage.

Denver Water officials said the spilled water equaled about 2 percent of daily usage for this time of year — or about enough water to serve 30 families of four for a year.

Denver Water initially expected to complete repairs to the main by 10 p.m. Friday, but, due in part to an additional section of pipe discovered to be in need of replacement, that timeline was eventually moved to 4 a.m. Saturday, officials said.

“You never know what you’re going to run into,” said Denver Water spokesman Travis Thompson. “Every main break brings its own set of challenges.”

The broken pipe was originally laid in 1890, Thompson said, and was last rehabbed in 1962.

The water was off in an area along West 29th Avenue between Federal Boulevard and Umatilla Street during the repairs. Denver Water said three commercial buildings and 40 units in an apartment building were affected.

Denver Water hopes to have the water back on and 29th Avenue east of Zuni Street open by midday Saturday.

Forest Room 5, at 2532 15th St., was hard hit by the break. Water flooded the restaurant and bar’s soon-to-be-completed parking garage and came within inches of its power transformers.

The business did not close. General manager Jordan Hubner said about 60 patrons came in for food and drinks Thursday night.

“It was good and bad for business — mostly bad I’m sure,” Hubner said, “but there was a point where 15th was shut down completely. People were staying because they didn’t want go out into the water.”

Forest Room 5 was fully operational Friday night.

The Truffle Table, a new restaurant at the corner of 15th and Boulder streets, had its soft opening Thursday. The restaurant wasn’t damaged, but the event was memorable because customers stayed inside to avoid the flood of water, manager Miguel Vera said.

Ryan Parker was a reporter for The Denver Post from 2011 until May 2014. A Colorado native, Parker started his career at smaller weeklies and worked for YourHub before becoming a breaking news reporter for The Post.

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